Shamel Pitts | TRIBE

Shamel Pitts | TRIBE

Festival Week 7 | Wednesday, August 6 – Sunday, August 10 | Doris Duke Theatre
Pillow Debut

Dancer, artist, and choreographer Shamel Pitts creates provocative dance works that “push against the boundaries of identity” (Dance Magazine). His company TRIBE will perform Touch of RED, inspired by the rapid-fire footwork of boxing, the African American jazz dance style Lindy Hop, Gaga movement language, and nightlife culture. Set in a stylized ring, this dance duet examines the way Black men are perceived and perceive themselves in contemporary society.

This is a notable homecoming for Pitts and his company, whose Pillow Lab residency work on Touch of RED in November 2020 was disrupted when the original Doris Duke Theatre was lost to a fire. Since then, TRIBE premiered Touch of RED in a sold-out weekend in October 2022 at MASS MoCA, co-presented by Jacob’s Pillow. This will be the first time this remarkable duet is performed at the Festival.

Pitts is a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, a 2024 Doris Duke Artist, and recently received a 2024 MacArthur Fellowship. He is the recipient of a 2018 Princess Grace Award in Choreography, a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Award in Choreography, and a 2024 Knight Choreography Prize. Pitts’s “BLACK series” has toured extensively worldwide since 2016.

To complement his week-long performance run in the Doris Duke Theatre, Shamel Pitts has also been commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow to create and release a digital-first work in summer 2025 and will create a series of cinematic 3D experiences, in collaboration with TRIBE’s Transmedia Artist Lucca Del Carlo, that accompany his in-person performance of Touch of RED.

“Touch of RED held me in its grasp from the second I entered the venue, from the twisting route to my seat, to the stark intimacy immediately on display. It all set my nerves on fire, still burning as I recall the experience.”